Local Electoral Amendment Bill

The Justice and Electoral Select Committee has reported back the Local Electoral Amendment Bill. The Bill basically updates the local body election laws to much the same level as the national electoral laws, so that there is greater transparency around donations. Both John Banks and Len Brown didn’t disclose numerous donations last election through (legal) use of anonymous donations (Banks) and laundering them through trusts (Brown).

Beyond the changes in the original bill, they have recommended some further changes:

require that candidate profile statements include whether or not the candidate’s principal place of residence is in the local government area in question

allow electoral officers to publish all election returns

allow prosecutions for up to three years after an offence was committed

wiseowl

If people are allowed to legitimately reside outside the area in question why include this provision.?
So the other candidates can lambast someone for not living within the electorate.?
eg if you were born and raised in an electorate and moved across the river eg crossed a boundary by 50 metres then you would become an ‘alien’?
Shocking.

I thought the Bill incorporated parts of the member’s bill of the Green Party that differentiated donations from expenses in candidates returns? The way the law reads now, they could be the same and candidates might not need to file donations returns.